Istanbul: An Amazing City
Sailing down the Bosphorus on Sunday afternoon,it was a cruise in to the annals of history. I tried to bring to life before me the amazing conquest of Constantinople. Subhanallah! What it must have been like to witness it all ?
Nabi Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam had a long time ago said :" Truly you shall conquer Constantinople and surely what a wonderful leader will its leader be and surely what a wonderful army will that army be!( Musnad Ahmed)
The burning desire to be from this 'wonderful arm' motivated many Muslims, right from the time of the Sahaba Ridiyallahu Anhum to attempt to conquer Constantinople.
However, a number of a factors made it extremely difficult
The city was built on a more or less triangular peninsula, bounded on the south by the sea of Marmara and on its north by the Golden Horn. The landward direction was protected by mighty defence walls originally built in 447 AD. Added to this, the cold weather in the region was intolerable for the Muslims who were accustomed to much warmer climate.
For eight centuries, the conquest of this city was a dream for Muslim commanders. However, this honour was destined for the 8th Ottoman Sultan, a young man named Muhammad. He captured the city and brought to an end the Byzantine Empire at the young age of 21.
This was an amazing feat indeed. But what does it really mean? Other than all the minarets and domes, today if you look at the people of Istanbul there is only but a slight semblance of Islam. A tour guide shared a fact with us saying that 99 percent of Turkey is Muslim. To this a member of our group privately said : "Up until now I haven't even met one percent 'Muslim'." This is because of the manner of dressing and the general indifference towards religion. This is something that has disturbed me a great deal.
Anyway, so far we visited the Ayasofya, which was the church of the Patriarch of Constantinople. It was converted to a Masjid by a Sultan Muhammed when he conquered Constantinople. Unfortunately, now it stands as a museum. An amazing structure that was copied by many afterwards.
We then moved on to Topkapi Palace Museum where i had a desire of a lifetime fulfilled. We saw the relics of Nabi Sallallahu Alaihi wasallam and the Sahaba Radiyallahu Anhu. The simplicity of the cloak of Fatima Radiyallahu Anha was really an eye opener. Looking at the various swords I marvelled at the strength that Allah had grant Nabi Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and the Sahaba Radiyallahu Anhu.
Our next stop was the Sultan Ahmed Masjid, one of the most beautiful Masaajid in the world. It is popularly known as the the Blue Mosque because of the blue tiles adorning its interior. This Masjid overlooks the Ayasofuya and the Bosphorus Straits. From there we made our way down to the Bosphorus for a boat ride.
Yusuf Moosagie 9th July 2012